1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,436 [calm droning music] 2 00:00:03,536 --> 00:00:05,238 - [Mary] It is a school 3 00:00:06,673 --> 00:00:10,510 designed to provide the regular school curriculum 4 00:00:10,610 --> 00:00:13,213 to students on the autism spectrum. 5 00:00:13,313 --> 00:00:15,015 It's really strange, it was actually 6 00:00:15,115 --> 00:00:16,416 when I was in grad school. 7 00:00:16,516 --> 00:00:17,984 I had all these autistic behaviors 8 00:00:18,084 --> 00:00:19,452 and no one picked up on it. 9 00:00:19,552 --> 00:00:22,188 And then I was reading about it because it relates 10 00:00:22,288 --> 00:00:23,690 to emotional behavioral disorders. 11 00:00:23,790 --> 00:00:26,026 I was reading about it and there are so many things 12 00:00:26,126 --> 00:00:28,128 I was reading about that made me shudder 13 00:00:28,228 --> 00:00:31,264 because it felt so familiar to me. 14 00:00:31,364 --> 00:00:32,799 A lot of mix of feelings, 15 00:00:32,899 --> 00:00:35,869 like one was kind of like that denial, but academic, 16 00:00:35,969 --> 00:00:40,373 like curious, like what? 17 00:00:40,473 --> 00:00:43,543 [calm droning music] 18 00:00:47,647 --> 00:00:50,350 Isn't there a story where he tricks someone to marry him? 19 00:00:50,450 --> 00:00:51,818 Like a really beautiful goddess? 20 00:00:51,918 --> 00:00:53,186 - [Student] Yeah, he gets married to Aphrodite. 21 00:00:53,286 --> 00:00:55,422 - I heard that on a Neil Gaiman story. 22 00:00:56,523 --> 00:00:58,625 Well, I've been teaching for a long time. 23 00:00:59,726 --> 00:01:00,927 So there's that. 24 00:01:01,027 --> 00:01:03,630 I actually have had an easier time 25 00:01:03,730 --> 00:01:08,568 teaching a group of students with same disability as I 26 00:01:08,668 --> 00:01:12,272 because we almost have a mind lock 27 00:01:12,372 --> 00:01:15,308 like we're the Borg of Star Trek. 28 00:01:15,408 --> 00:01:19,245 Now I'm showing my geekiness. That's very common. 29 00:01:19,345 --> 00:01:21,081 [students chattering] 30 00:01:21,181 --> 00:01:22,315 We actually have this thing 31 00:01:22,415 --> 00:01:24,384 at the school called follow the group plan, 32 00:01:24,484 --> 00:01:27,320 which is if a child is doing a behavior 33 00:01:27,420 --> 00:01:30,323 which doesn't fit the class, we say follow the group plan. 34 00:01:30,423 --> 00:01:32,392 And we call it on a class as much as a group. 35 00:01:32,492 --> 00:01:35,662 And the purpose is to teach the child to move toward 36 00:01:35,762 --> 00:01:38,298 independence and be able to work in a team 37 00:01:38,398 --> 00:01:41,634 so they can have successful employments. 38 00:01:41,734 --> 00:01:46,639 Neurotypicals or non autistics should not have to feel 39 00:01:46,739 --> 00:01:49,309 like you have to walk on eggshells. 40 00:01:49,409 --> 00:01:51,444 It's a time and age now where a lot of people are 41 00:01:52,112 --> 00:01:54,747 coming out with all sorts of things about themselves. 42 00:01:54,848 --> 00:01:56,416 Like I have anxiety, I have depression. 43 00:01:56,516 --> 00:01:58,251 I'm LGBT, I'm this, I'm that. 44 00:01:58,351 --> 00:02:02,489 And trying to figure it out and trying to say 45 00:02:02,589 --> 00:02:06,059 you should accommodate me for this, but you know what? 46 00:02:06,159 --> 00:02:08,495 Like everybody's got something. 47 00:02:08,595 --> 00:02:13,133 Or should it be like a monster of plastic surgery disasters. 48 00:02:13,233 --> 00:02:15,768 I, like everybody, wanna have a job 49 00:02:15,869 --> 00:02:17,337 and have meaningful life. 50 00:02:17,437 --> 00:02:18,905 And I can't walk into a room and be like, 51 00:02:19,005 --> 00:02:20,673 "Y'all stop. I have autism." 52 00:02:23,009 --> 00:02:27,914 I really believe that humans are social beings 53 00:02:28,014 --> 00:02:30,617 and they naturally want other people. 54 00:02:30,717 --> 00:02:32,919 And that's why I believe so many people with autism 55 00:02:33,019 --> 00:02:34,420 are depressed and anxious 56 00:02:34,521 --> 00:02:36,756 because we're not getting that social interaction. 57 00:02:36,856 --> 00:02:38,725 We don't know how, we really want to. 58 00:02:39,993 --> 00:02:42,162 I just have to do it, get over the shyness 59 00:02:42,262 --> 00:02:44,330 and to know when to interject or just be around people 60 00:02:44,430 --> 00:02:45,999 because it's such a huge thing.